Pat, yes, thank you . When I said "feel shorter" I should have included that this increases the early draw weight.
About the handshock- and the question "would hand shock disappear if the bow were drawn further?" If I understand it right , handshock would not disappear- it might even increase slightly because the tips would be traveling faster than if drawn partially. So, the handshock would be the same or worse, but the extra length of the recurve would have benefits independent of this. (string angle, further draw due to longer overall length of the bow) . Am I understanding this ?
Back to the question of weather cutting off the extra mass would reduce handshock- My gut says it would. Anything that decreases mass in a moving part of the limb should help if handshock is caused by the bow's mass "slamming back to brace" and imparting it's momentum to the hand. the amount it can shock your hand should be partly dependant on it's moving mass. f=ma? On the other hand, if you cut off the tips, there would be less mass but more tip speed, so the increased tip speed would possibly add to handshock, taking away some of the gains from less mass.
Reading this and other forums, handshock and it's causes don't seem to be as well understood as other aspects of bowyery